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… is what the Occupy Wall Street protests are all about.

I am 42 year-old married father of two who has spent from 2007 until now trying my best to outrun a recession that I feel has been breathing down my neck.  I am fortunate enough that both my wife and I have good jobs and stable incomes right now, but there was a time not that long ago that I was laid off twice in 6 months and when I wasn’t sure if my next paycheck was going to come, let alone clear.  I busted hump, pressed flesh, kissed ass, and basically had to prove that I was hungrier, more aggressive, and just wanted it more than my competition to get the job I have now.  The sad thing is that all 124 people who wanted the same job I got have it a lot harder.

I am the 99% and so are they.

Just to give you perspective as to how much money that is over how long a period of time…

The Commission on Wartime Contracting (.pdf) concludes that “vast amounts” of contract money in Iraq and Afghanistan provided “little or no benefit” to the war efforts.  The commission confirmed $31 billion in contractor cash lost to corruption or dysfunction. But it warned that the true figure could be as high as $60 billion, or “$12 million every day for the past 10 years.”

(Firing up the Sarcasm-inator) But teachers unions, healthcare, education funding, NPR… that’s where the real problem is in America. (Sarcasm-inator off.)

The best part of this is that for all of their pissing and moaning about ‘fiscal responsibility,’ I’m pretty sure that Congress in general and Republicans in particular will do absolutely nothing about this.

MTV, along with the rest of the music industry, discusses the internet in 1995.  Get ready to see the less wrinkled versions of your favorite rock stars.  Bonus:  A downright coherent Ozzy Osbourne.

… it’s this one.

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich by Warren E. Buffett.

One question that I think should be asked… Who is coddling the coddlers?

You know a government is dysfunctional when the New York Times Op-ed page starts accepting fanfiction.

That is an accurate description of  a piece of writing by Thomas Friedman, an author whom I respect and admire, even when I don’t agree with him.  The only way this article could extend beyond the realm of fantasy that it is already in would be to inject an element of porn.

This may be a cynical view to take, but from what I’ve seen, “bipartisan agreement” is right up there with “the check’s in the mail,” and “I’ll respect you in the morning.”

The total debt of the United States is about 14.5 trillion dollars.  That’s this much:  $14,500,000,000,000.  Now that total amount is the result of a lot of things, but one of the things that contributed to it is bailouts.  Bailouts for banks, for failing industries, Wall Street, etc.

In order to issue a bailout, Congress has to first debate and then enact legislation to allow disbursement of that money.  Surprisingly, there is one part of our government that has access to the U.S. Treasury that can just give it away.  And that they did… to the tune of $16,000,000,000,000.

Here is a partial list of the recipients of the Fed’s largess.

In an industrial action against Qantas Airways Ltd., two right-handed aircraft engineers will work with only their left hands starting Friday.

I don’t care what side of the dispute you are on or what your motivations are.  Fucking with my safety while I’m in your flying machine does not endear me to your cause.

You can see them both coming  a mile away.

A motorcyclist riding without a helmet, riding in a protest against mandatory helmet laws, dies pretty much how you would expect.

Vancouver rioters identified thanks to digital photos and facebook posts.